Spa 2022

[Bagwan]

Great old school track , Spa , may not be on the calendar again , so I hope this race is a stonker .
We've got some new repaving , some wider runoff , and , to emphasize the "old school" flavour , some new gravel traps .

Mac and Merc are said to have some serious updates , so we'll see if both can move up .

I can't wait .

[Bagwan]

Hey bagwan , thanks for starting this thread .
I was starting to think nobody would .

Did you see Stroll run fifth in the first and then fourth in the second ?
Not bad , eh ?

Looking forward to seeing Chuck and Max make their way to the front , if they can stay out of that gravel .

It must be awkward for Danny Ric at Mac , and for Nando at Alpine , and for Mick at Haas .

I'll post something tomorrow , just in case nobody else does .

[F1nKS]

It should be an interesting race with both Leclerc and Max taking penalties. This might be Hamilton best chance at winning a race this year.

Have not verified, but heard that there are six cars taking penalties this weekend. If so, qualifying will be important.

[airshifter]

It should be an actual race this year, so things are already looking better than last year!

It will be interesting with the penalties and Leclerc and Max charging from the back of the pack. Unless qually shows us some surprises, I wouldn't be shocked to see both of them on the podium. And I really wouldn't be shocked to see Merc struggle for a podium, though they might have the pace to keep the others at bay. Qually will be important for sure, and it looks like Merc might be in for a bit of a struggle.

[F1nKS]

Grid start is:

1. Sainz
2. Perez
3. Alonso
4. Hamilton
5. Russell
6. Albon
7. Ricciardo
8. Gasly
9. Stroll
10. Vettell
11. Latifi
12. Magnussen
13. Tsunoda
14. Bottas
15. verstappen
16. Leclerc
17. Ocon
18. Norris
19. Zhou
20. Schumacher

[janneppi]

But how good is Bottas, 20 place grid penalty and still manages to drag that Audi into a respectable 14th place.

Sent from my Takapalk.

[airshifter]

Nothing really unexpected in qually. With all the penalties, quite the shaken up grid for the race.

I suspect the RB straight line advantage will get Checo past Sainz in short order providing he can stay close. Really the Ferrari's both looked like they were on the ragged edge more than the RB, so it will be interesting to see if that impacts race pace much. Great job by Alonso to punk the Mercs, and we all know how much he can hold up a car if he wants to.

Max put a blazer lap in with the RB. I can't see him having much issue making it to the podium, and depending on the possible red flags and such he might be able to stick it for a win.

[gm99]

Latifi being Latifi again.

[Tazio]

Boss :rolleyes:

'tifi :rolleyes:

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

[gm99]

The Red Bulls were seriously quick around this track. Leclerc couldn't even get near Verstappen's fastest lap with red tyres and low fuel on the last lap.
Good results for Vettel and Albon as well.

[sgr]

What was the deal with Ferrari trying for an extra point and losing out even more? :arrows:

Someone please take their strategists behind the barn and put them out of their misery.

[airshifter]

No real challenge for Max today, and really not that much action at the front of the pack other than things sorting out. And the first lap was a bit crazy as well, starting with Lewis making that move that he should have known wouldn't work with Alonso. He said later that he lost Alonso in the mirrors, but rookie mistake IMO.

Max pulled a Mario Kart move on Leclerc, depositing a tear off right into the brake duct on the Ferrari. If not for that it seemed that Leclerc would have had a strong drive for the day, as that completely killed the pit strategy. To add insult to injury, they order him in to attempt to take the fast lap, don't take it, and in the process end up with a penalty that caused him to lose position. Once again a big bravo to Ferrari for making matters worse when they have the chance. :laugh: After in depth discussion on the tire changes, when Charles said it was risky going for fast lap they ordered him in regardless.

A decent job by Sainz to stay on the podium and keep George at bay towards the end. Overall the Merc had decent pace, and had Lewis not tossed his race me might have had a real shot at a podium.

Good race overall for Alpine, and if they can keep it up they should be able to be 4th in the WCC. Which might be a good thing, because at the rate they are going they might not have two drivers next year! Ocon made a good "twofer" pass when the opportunity came up.

RB were strong, but Max was dominant today. He is just on another planet vs Perez some races. Making up that start deficit and then easily staying in front was made to look easy at Max's hand. Overall it was a bit harder for Perez to lock up the 2nd place, but he's doing a good job overall, and is now 2nd in the WDC. He had a little luck with Hamilton and Alonso screwing it up in front of him, but was there to take the fight to them either way I think.

And IMO and absolutely well deserved point for Albon in the Williams. He had to fight hard to keep the faster cars behind, but used the car to his advantage and made it count where he needed to. I was glad to see him stay in the top 10.


As for the "illegal flexing floors" that Toto seemed to think RB and Ferrari were using, absolutely zero evidence that the new tests and such had any impact on either car. If anything RB is still taking steps forward, and they still have a new lighter tub waiting to go on the cars. Combined with the Honda power, it doesn't look like anyone is going to come up with much of a shot at taking it to them on track.